PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (Oct. 13, 2026) – Down two sets to none and later trailing 23-20 in the fourth, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy women's volleyball team stormed all the way back to complete a dramatic reverse sweep of Skyline rival St. Joseph's-Long Island on Tuesday night at the Danzi Center. The Mariners won the final three sets to claim the five-set thriller, 23-25, 13-25, 25-19, 25-23 and 15-8. USMMA improved to 15-2 overall and remained unbeaten in Skyline play at 6-0, while the Golden Eagles fell to 9-5 (2-1 Skyline). The victory came in a rematch of last year's Skyline Conference semifinal, when St. Joseph's-L.I. ended the Mariners' season.
Match File
Junior
Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) led USMMA with 14 kills and added six digs, two service aces and three block assists. Freshman
Candy Saz-Price (Cabot, Ark.) recorded 10 kills on a .280 hitting percentage and 10 digs for her first career double-double, while classmate
Lanae DuBose (Baytown, Texas) added eight kills and hit .278.
Sophomore
Carly Soboloski (Peoria, Ariz.) chipped in seven kills, and freshman
Miranda Zeng (Cupertino, Calif.) directed the offense with 45 assists to go along with 13 digs for her team-leading third double-double of the season. Senior
Alexa Tipps (Palmdale, Calif.) led the Mariners with 15 digs.
The opening set was tight throughout. USMMA built a 19-15 advantage, but St. Joseph's-L.I. battled back and eventually pulled ahead 22-21. The Mariners twice tied the set late, including at 23-23, before the Golden Eagles scored the final two points to take the opener, 25-23. St. Joseph's then jumped out to a 7-1 advantage in the second and never relinquished control, eventually taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-13 victory.
Facing elimination, USMMA responded with its best offensive set of the night in the third. The Mariners put down 19 kills and hit .385, gradually building separation before taking a 20-15 lead. St. Joseph's pulled within three at 20-17, but USMMA answered and finished off the 25-19 victory to extend the match.
The Golden Eagles appeared poised to end it in the fourth, opening up leads of 14-8 and 19-14 before holding a 23-20 advantage late. Two points away from defeat, the Mariners completely flipped the match. Saz-Price put down a kill to make it 23-21, an ensuing service ace cut the deficit to one and another Saz-Price kill tied the set at 23-23. Zeng then gave USMMA its first lead of the late stretch with a kill before a St. Joseph's attack error completed a stunning five-point run and gave the Mariners the set, 25-23.
USMMA carried that momentum into the fifth. After the teams traded points early, the Mariners moved ahead 8-5 before St. Joseph's answered with three straight to tie the decisive set at 8-8. From there, it was all Merchant Marine. USMMA scored the final seven points of the match, highlighted by a Saz-Price ace, a Zeng kill and a DuBose kill, before Douglas slammed home the match-clinching kill for the 15-8 victory.
The Mariners finished with a 59-53 edge in kills, 12-9 advantage in service aces and 6.0-4.0 edge in blocks. St. Joseph's-L.I. held an 80-69 advantage in digs and hit .224 compared to USMMA's .169. Nina Vanderhoof led the Golden Eagles with a match-high 16 kills on a .405 hitting percentage, while Isabella Nieradko added 14 kills. Olivia Baumann handed out 46 assists and Olivia Picarella finished with a match-high 22 digs.
Up next, the Mariners will host St. Joseph's-Brooklyn this Thursday, Oct. 15, on Senior Night. Prior to the 7 p.m. first serve, Merchant Marine will pay tribute to its two graduating seniors – Tipps and
Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas).
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